


Little Lotus Flower

by AshWinterGray



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Green Arrow (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Teen Titans - All Media Types
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Coffee, F/M, Family Feels, First Day of School, Movie: Frozen (2013), Pancakes, Proud Uncle Jason Todd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-17 17:00:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29844633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshWinterGray/pseuds/AshWinterGray
Summary: In the last living will and testament of one Roy Harper, the care of Lian Harper was to go to someone Roy Harper trusted enough to raise his daughter in a normal life. Jade Nguyen chose Jason Todd for this task.
Relationships: Lian Harper & Jason Todd, Roy Harper & Jason Todd, Roy Harper/Jade Nguyen
Comments: 12
Kudos: 113





	Little Lotus Flower

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: Lian as a girls name means Lotus. As a guys name, it means graceful willow.

“He…what?”

When Jade Nguyen had shown up at his safe house, Jason hadn’t been sure what to think. It wasn’t like they were friends, and they certainly didn’t interact as much as Dick might have when Roy was…when Roy was… Whatever the case was, it was odd that Jade would come here. But what was even more shocking was the news that Jade had brought.

“You were mentioned in his will as one of the people he trusted to raise our daughter should something happen.”

Jason’s gaze drifted down to where the little girl was fast asleep on his bed. Well, more of a mattress with a few holes in it. The last Jason had heard, Lian had been dead. Blown up in a bombing back in Star City while at daycare. Roy had been devastated by the time Jason entered his life. There was that time when the Titans thought they could bring her back, but the details were iffy at best. Roy didn’t talk about it. Neither did anyone else.

And yet here she was. Little Lian Harper. Alive. Breathing. Fast asleep on a questionable mattress without a care in the world.

“Why me?” Jason finally asked, swallowing thickly.

Jade hadn’t even looked at Jason yet, still brushing hair from her daughter’s sleeping head. “As much as Roy trusted Oliver, I don’t. I don’t want him to raise my daughter after the way he raised Roy. Dinah would have been my first choice, but she’s rather smitten with Oliver. Dick or Donna would have been obvious choices too if I were certain they would care for Lian, but no, I can’t trust them either.”

There was a lot to unpack in that sentence alone, but Jason wasn’t going to do that. His gaze shifted over Lian again. There were so many questions in his head right now, but it didn’t seem right to ask them just yet. Jade was in mourning for a man she once loved, maybe even still loved, and she was asking Jason to take care of her daughter.

“Okay,” he agrees. “Okay.”

Jade gave a short, curt nod before vanishing out the window.

Jason took a moment to glance at Lian. And then began to interanally panic.

_How was he supposed to take care of a **child**!?_

What had he gotten himself into?

\----------------------------

What, indeed.

Five months ago, Jason had been trying to figure out how to raise his best friend’s child in Gotham. Five months ago, Lian had woken from her nap and broken down into tears because her daddy and mommy were gone.

Five months ago, Jason had a mid-life crisis.

Now he was flipping pancakes as five year old Lian sat eagerly at the table, kicking her legs giddily, and ready for her first day of school. It was nerve wracking, sending Lian to Kindergarten, and Jason was already a nervous wreck.

_He had turned into **that** type of parent._

Five months ago, Jason had made the decision that raising Lian in Gotham, New Jersey was a terrible idea. He had debated moving to Star City, Washington, but that hadn’t felt right either, especially after Jade’s comment about Oliver. So, Jason had packed up what he could and moved to San Francisco. It made sense at the time. The Titans wouldn’t immediately notice his presence, Lian had lived in San Francisco for a time, and the apartment building he chose was pretty closed off.

It wasn’t peaceful. Not by a long run. But the city was constantly bustling with activity. The people he met were generally friendly and welcoming. Jason was particularly fond of his next-door neighbor, Lyta Trevor. She was a kind woman who lived with her son, Daniel.

Jason had a job at a coffee shop called Jitters that had branched out from Central City. Lian was starting school. This wasn’t the life Jason had ever thought to see himself in, but it was a life Roy had pictured for Lian at one point.

For his niece, Jason would make those sacrifices.

**_Knock! Knock!_**

Okay, maybe not _all_ the sacrifices. After all, Lian quickly darted to her hidey hole the moment someone knocked on the door, and Jason was quick to remove the pancakes from the stove so they wouldn’t burn as he grabbed his gun. He made to pull up his security, only to find it down. He tried not to curse in front of Lian, but sometimes the situation really tugged at his nerves. So he did it under his breath.

Jason crept to the door, glad he had checked the house for creaky floorboards just a few days prior, and peaked outside.

Only to freeze.

This had to be a joke, right?

Jason yanked open the door and glared at the occupants on the other side.

“What?” he huffed.

Bruce gave him an unimpressed flat look.

“Can I help you?” Jason pressed, making sure every syllable was as sarcastic as possible.

“What are you doing here, Jason?”

Jason huffed and rolled his eyes. Typical. Of course the first thing Bruce would say to him was some sort of accusation. That was just the way the cookie crumbled, he guessed. He was the black sheep of the family, so obviously he had to be “up to something” near the old Justice League Headquarters, and a little too close to Titans Tower.

“Making breakfast,” Jason stated flatly. “I’d offer to let you in, but I have to leave for work, soon. Now, goodbye.”

Jason made to shut the door, but Bruce caught it. Dang it. This was what Jason was trying to avoid. They were in a small apartment building where everyone helped everyone, and that meant a fight would catch attention easily. Jason was trying to convey that to Bruce, but the man wasn’t having it.

“Jason. What are you doing here?”

“Is there a problem, here?”

Jason’s head whipped over Bruce’s shoulder as he saw Lyta standing just behind Bruce. Even with Daniel on her hip, Lyta looked lethal. Furious. Jason was definitely fond of Lyta Trevor, and that connection went both ways for them. Lyta had practically adopted him and Lian the moment they met.

“No,” Bruce stepped back, something in his body movement catching Jason’s attention. “There isn’t a problem.”

Lyta slowly switched places with Bruce, now blocking Bruce’s access to Jason or the apartment. And with one last glance, Bruce left.

“That guy was a creep,” Lyta huffed.

“That guy was my dad,” Jason grumbled back.

\------------------------

Bruce’s attempt failed, it was Tim, Steph, and Cass who came to see Jason. At work. Where he couldn’t run away.

“I told him not too,” Tim noted as Jason gave him his coffee. “He’s just stubborn.”

“Stupidly stubborn,” Steph huffed. “I mean, we already know why you’re in San Francisco.”

Jason blinked. _They did?_

“How is Lian, anyways?” Tim asked.

Jason’s brain short-circuited. Because of course. Of course the Bats would have looked into him when he stopped showing up on their crime-wave radar. It didn’t matter that Roy’s dying wish was to keep Lian safe, because so long as Jason had her, she wasn’t safe. He was the black sheep. The Rogue. The Crime Lord. He couldn’t be trusted to raise a child, now could he?

“She’s fine,” Jason admitted after a tense moment. “She started kindergarten today.”

“Did you take lots of pictures?” Steph asked, grinning brightly.

Actually, yeah, Jason _did_ take lots of pictures. He was kind of proud to show his brother, sister, and sort-of-sister.

“Good for her,” Cass praised, and something that had begun to ache in Jason’s chest settled. “Good for you, too.”

Jason could live with that assessment.

\---------------------------

“Seriously?”

Dick just gave him a bright grin. “Ah, please, Jay!”

Jason shifted his gaze to see the group of eager Titans outside his door. Lyta caught his gaze over his shoulder, but Jason gave her an eye roll to let her know that, while he was annoyed at the company, it was nothing like that morning.

“Lian!” he called into the house. “We have company!”

“Uncle Wing!” Lian shrieked as she launched into Dick’s arms. “I started Kindergarten today! It was so much fun!”

“Oh, yeah?” Dick grinned. “You gotta tell us all about it then, huh?”

“Auntie Kori! Uncle Garth! Auntie Lilith! Donna! Hi! I went to Kindergarten today!”

Jason didn’t miss the fond smile that fell on Donna’s face at the lack of ‘auntie’ tacked onto her name. Jason knew Donna and Roy had a history, but Roy never talked about it, and Donna hadn’t been on the friendliest terms with Jason in years, so he wasn’t sure what the nature of the relationship meant to Lian.

With the group of Titans gathered together, Jason decided it would be best to order out this time. He hadn’t been grocery shopping yet and didn’t have enough food to feed everyone, let alone a speedster with Wally’s food intake. But after he ordered the pizza, Dick decided to confront him.

“Sorry you had to deal with Bruce’s attitude, Little Wing,” Dick sighed. “There was an attack at the Tower recently. We’re still trying to figure out who, and because we knew you were here, Bruce figured it best to confront you first. He’s just been grumpy, lately.”

There were a lot of questions that came with that statement. But there was one far more pressing.

“How did you know?”

“Well, a few days after you stopped showing up in Gotham, Babs did a check,” Dick shrugged. “She doesn’t pretty often when one of us is out of town. Tries to figure out where we are. Something about it gives Bruce peace of mind, or something. She was impressed, by the way. It took her a week to get past all your security to find you. We were a little suspicious, of course, but that was until GA came to us panicked because Lian was alive, but she wasn’t at the safe house Roy had been keeping her at. So we did some _more_ digging and found that Jade had been in Gotham a few days before you left, and suddenly Lian was with you. We piece two and two together.”

Jason nodded. “So why hasn’t Oliver confronted me?”

Dick gave a sheepish grin. “We may have…monitored you for a few weeks. Before GA was satisfied that you weren’t going to hurt her.”

Jason gave his brother a flat look.

“Hey, you try dealing with angry, overprotective, overly stressed dad version of GA,” Dick raised his hands in surrender. “I honestly thought B was going to break his no-kill rule. And, yes, we have the whole thing on tape.”

Huh. Guess his family really did know him well.

“So what had B all grouchy this morning, then?” Jason questioned.

“Sleepless nights,” Dick shrugged. “We have a new baby sister, now. Her name is Helena.”

Jason had seen that on the news. This would be the first child Bruce would get to raise from birth. He knew it was a special moment. For all the Bats. But it was one Jason was going to have to miss out on. But that was fine. He wasn’t exactly part of the Bats.

“Uncle Jay! Uncle Wing!” Lian called them from the living room, giving a bright smile as she was scattered around papers of crayon drawings and her Titans’ family. “Look, I drew lots of pictures at school today!”

Jason couldn’t stop the grin from growing on his face as he moved to join the circle. “What did you draw today, little archer?”

\--------------------------

It was Saturday when he heard from Bruce again. Lian was off school, and Jason only had a morning shift, so Lian had spent the morning with Lyta and Daniel. So when Jason went to pick Lian up, he found Bruce once more waiting for him, this time calmer, and holding a baby.

_His sister._

“Look, Bruce, just because-”

“I’m sorry, Jason,” Bruce stated.

Ah. Okay. Jason had to be dreaming. This was a dream. Which kind of sucked because there had been a jerk today at the café, and Jason did not want to wake up and go back to work after that. This wasn’t like his typical nightmares either. Odd.

Bruce sucked in a breath. “I’m sorry that I lashed out last time. You’ve done good here, setting up your life and raising Lian. It was unfair for me to take my anger out on you.”

“Yeah, definitely dreaming,” Jason muttered under his breath.

“No,” Bruce reached out, snagging Jason’s arm in a grip that Jason could have easily broken. “No, Jason. This isn’t a dream, lad.”

Jason froze. Bruce didn’t use that nickname anymore. Not even in Jason’s dreams. It was forgotten so long ago…

“Jay,” Bruce insisted. “This is real.”

Jason swallowed. “Let me just grab Lian.”

At Bruce’s nod, Jason ducked into Lyta’s apartment where the woman was waiting. She quickly checked Jason over, but Jason was just as quick to soothe her.

“I’m fine,” Jason promised. “Things with B and I are…complicated, but he’s my dad.”

“You shouldn’t force yourself to hold on to people who hurt you, Jason,” Lyta stated firmly. “I’ll allow it because he seems generally remorseful, and he genuinely wants you to meet your sister, but if anything goes south, you call me, alright?”

Ah. So Lyta had interrogated him already. Good.

“Ready, Uncle Jay!” Lian chirped brightly as she moved in front of him.

“Yeah,” Jason grinned. “You wanna go meet my baby sister?”

“Yeah!”

As Jason led them to the apartment, Lian started talking a mile-a-minute, and Jason didn’t miss the soft smile on Bruce’s face, or the way Helena cooed in delight at Lian’s energy. It was kind of cute.

“Jay?” Bruce asked as they stepped into the small apartment. “Would you like to hold your sister?”

Jason’s breath caught in his throat. Did he want to hold his sister? Yes. Yes, he did.

“Can I hold her too?” Lian asked.

\-----------------------------

Lian licked at her ice cream happily as they sat at a nice little ice cream shop in view of Titans Tower. They were meeting Oliver and Dinah today. Jason still wasn’t sure what Oliver’s relationship was with Lian, but he knew things had been rocky between Oliver and Roy for a long time. He just hoped this wasn’t a mistake.

“Jason,” a soft voice that still held power, greeted from behind. “It’s good to see you again, you’re looking well.”

Jason turned in his chair to see Dinah and Oliver just a few inches away. Dinah was giving him one of those genuine smiles that she used to give him during his Robin days, or whenever she saw him with Roy. But Oliver had his gaze hyper focused on Lian.

When Dick had mentioned Oliver being an overprotective dad, he had dismissed it.

Now he wasn’t so sure.

“Grandpa Ollie!”

Dinah released a snort of amusement, but Oliver instantly closed the distance faster than Jason could blink and claimed the chair next to Lian. He was smiling, bright, warm, maybe a little sad, and he quickly grabbed a napkin to wipe the ice cream from Lian’s face.

“Hey, munchkin,” he greeted her. “How’ve you been with your Uncle Jay?”

“Good!” Lian chirped. “Really, really good. We watched Frozen again last night!”

Jason shot Dinah a look of pure _disdain._ The amount of times he had seen that movie was a nightmare, and he wanted to gag himself every time Lian asked to watch the movie or listen to the songs. He thought for sure the same thing would happen with Frozen 2, but he had been spared that torture so far.

He wasn’t counting his luck, though.

“So, Jason,” Dinah took the seat next to Jason with an intrigued smile. “We’ve lost Ollie for the next few hours. Why don’t you tell me about yourself? How have you been handling all this?”

Jason glanced at Lian to make sure she was okay before putting his attention back on Dinah. “I’ve been alright. I’ve got a job at a the Jitters near our apartment, and the hours run pretty parallel to Lian’s time at school. My neighbor, Lyta, has offered to babysit whenever the hours don’t match up, and the Titans all come by every once in a while to see her, or pick her up from school when I can’t. It’s…it’s taken some adjustment, getting used to not being in the night life, but I can’t say I regret it.”

Dinah and Jason both shifted their gaze to Lian, sharing gentle smiles as Lian managed to get ice cream on Oliver’s nose. He laughed, bright and happy before trying to lick it off, much to Lian’s amusement.

“He’s trying,” Dinah whispered. “After Connor’s injury and Roy’s death. He’s trying.”

Yeah, there was a lot of that going around recently.

“So, I heard Bruce mention you were looking at California Tech,” Dinah steered the conversation away from the two.

“Probably online,” Jason shrugged. “As much as I don’t need the money with Bruce insisting, he pays, I kind of like my job at Jitters, and Lian and I won’t have to worry about moving.”

“Any idea what you want to study?”

“For now, definitely English.”

“Can’t say I’m at all surprised.”

\------------------------

Jason adored Lian. And Lian adored him. She was basically his daughter. Unfortunately, he still had to share her with her actual living parent.

“Jade,” Jason greeted as said assassin snuck in through the window. “I have a door you know. You just walk up to it and knock.”

“Mommy!” Lian waved cheerfully.

Lian was turning six in a few days, and because the Titans were _insisting_ on a giant party, Jade had asked for a couple days to spend with her daughter. Jason would be returning to Gotham for those few days, just to spend time with his baby sister. And his other siblings. And his dad.

It was complicated.

“Where’s the fun in that?” Jade teased with that cheeky grin that had obviously given her the name Cheshire. “Is she all packed.”

“Hold on there, speedy gonzales,” Jason quipped before Jade could scoop up her daughter and bolt. “You need to eat something, Jade. You can’t go galivanting with your daughter on an empty stomach.”

“Jason-”

“Whether you like it or not, Jade, Roy asked me to look after his daughter, and by default, that means making sure his daughter’s baby momma is well okay too. You have three days to spend with her, just the two of you, and she’ll fall asleep the moment you two start traveling. Even assassins need to take care of themselves.”

Jade bit her lip but ultimately sat down. Jade never got Lian for very long, mostly by her own requests. And Lian’s birthdays used to be a Roy, Jade, and Lian thing. So, obviously, this wasn’t easy for Jade. Which was why Jason was insisting that Jade take care of herself.

He was no stranger to grief.

“Roy might have mentioned some of your favorites a few times,” Jason admitted as he moved the pot of teriyaki chicken to the table. “It’s not an exact replica, but I thought you’d like to have it again.”

Jade practically melted the moment she put a bite in her mouth.

\----------------------------

It was Jason’s day off, and he had every intention of sleeping in. He was all caught up on homework. He didn’t have to go into work. And there were no classes. It was a nice, quiet, peaceful-

_“The snow blows white on the mountain tonight. Not a footprint to be seen. A kingdom of isolation, and it looks like, I’m the Queen.”_

Jason groaned as he grabbed his pillow and put it on his head. It was too early in the morning for this.

“UNCLE JAY! I MADE Pancakes!”

Oh. That was nice. Pancakes were good, and he had been teaching Lian how to make them. She’d be fine. He was sure.

Except…they ran out of pancake mix yesterday.

“WITH **_WHAT_**!?”

\-------------------------------

Lian was shivering with glee as she raced up the steps of the apartment. She was still dripping wet from her swim in the ocean after her play date with her uncles, aunts, and “her Donna”, but she was still happy. Her little feet squished and squelched in her water shoes as she moved, occasionally stopping on each round of steps when Jason moved to slow.

Not that Jason was trying to be slow, but Lian had been too excited to come home and watch the new Disney Dragon movie to stay still long enough to dry off, so Jason was taking slow, careful steps so as not to trip and fall.

He should probably hit the gym more often, or attempt to train with the Titans more. He didn’t want to lose his edge.

“YIPE!”

Jason’s head jerked up just in time to see someone slip on one of Lian’s puddles. Jason would later blame his instincts as he lunged out to catch the woman, slamming into the wall behind them, knocking the air from his lungs as her nose slammed against his chest.

“Whoops,” came Lian’s voice as Jason tried to regain his breathing.

“Ah,” the girl hissed. “Sowwy. I was hin a vush.”

The girl, a brunette with soft grey eyes, and her bangs died blonde, pulled away as she gave a sheepish grin, holding her nose in the process.

“No, that was our fault,” Jason wheezed with an equally sheepish smile. “I should have dried Lian of a bit more. Is your nose okay?”

“It’s fine,” the girl assured, sniffing in a bit to test. “Kind of sore, but not broken as far as I can tell. You’ve got a hard chest, Mr.”

“Well, I work out a lot,” Jason shrugged. “And it’s Jason. Jason Todd.”

“Oh! _You’re_ Jason. Mrs. Lyta’s neighbor,” the girl hummed, giving Jason a once over. “Which means that must be Lian. She said you guys were out for the day. I live a couple floors above you guys, but Lyta gave me a tour.”

“Huh, well it’s nice to meet you new neighbor,” Jason shrugged and offered a hand.

“Walker,” the girl blurted out. “Rose. Rose Walker. That’s…that’s my name.”

Jason grinned. “It’s nice to meet you, Rose Walker. Sorry about the puddles. I hope I’m not keeping you from anything.”

“No! No, you’re not…” Rose seemed to pause for a minute. “Oh, wait! I’m late!”

Before Jason could blink, Rose bounded down the stairs.

“IT WAS NICE MEETING YOU, JASON!”

Jason shook his head and cast a glance to Lian.

Lian was scrunching her nose in mock disgust. “Ew. You guys were flirting.”

Somehow, that coming from a child made Jason flush bright red.

\---------------------

“You’re an idiot.”

Wally West stared at Jason with a look of pure shock and confusion as Jason placed Lian in his lap.

“She’s your niece. Spend time with her.”

“What?” Wally sputtered. “But-but Jason!”

“Play with your niece! No exceptions!”

“Do you not love me anymore, Uncle Wally?”

“What!? No! Lian, that’s not-I don’t-Jason!”

\------------------------------

Staring down at his phone, Roy looked at the other contacts. His idea to call Oliver had gone out the window, but…could he really call Dick? Donna? Even Jason? It didn’t seem right to call them just yet. But calling Ollie seemed worse.

And yet…

No one had picked up at the safehouse where he left Lian. He could only assume Jade had gone through with his final will and testament to have Lian placed with someone he cared about. Sucking in a breath, he called again.

It rang one. Twice. A third time.

_“Hello?”_

The voice was clearly annoyed. A familiar tone that Roy recognized. He had clearly interrupted something between Ollie and Dinah.

_“If this is a prank-”_

“Ollie…” Roy began, voice catching in his throat. “Ollie, it’s…it’s me. It’s Roy. I’m…I’m alive.”

There was silence on the other end for a moment. It felt like hours of Roy just sitting there, waiting.

_“Roy…”_ something in Ollie hardened. _“My son is dead. He died. Whoever you are, this isn’t-”_

“The first time we met, I stole your wallet,” Roy insisted quickly. “You were at the mall with some girl, and I picked your pocket and snuck into the mall, but you came and found me anyways. After you caught me with my archery skills, you took me your fancy apartment and we spent the whole night avoiding each others questions. Then we played video games, and I stole some of your alcohol while you were asleep.”

Silence on the other end, the sound of a muffled sob, probably Dinah, the only thing he could hear.

_“Roy?”_

Ollie practically breathed his name, and Roy found himself sinking to the ground. Ollie, his dad, sounded so awed to hear his voice. Honestly, Roy was just as relieved to hear Ollie, too. His dad sounded so _awed_ by him, and that made Roy want to break down.

_“Roy,”_ more frantic this time. Had Roy zoned out? _“Roy. Are you…are you still there. Please say something, bud. Please.”_

“I,” Roy’s voice cracked. “I’m here, Ollie. I swear I’m here.”

_“CLARK!”_

That was Dinah, in the background, probably calling out to Superman. Roy wasn’t sure he was ready for that, but all he could think about was how awed Ollie sounded, and how much he wanted to see his daughter.

A few minutes later and some ruffled and muffled sounds on the line, and Roy knew Clark had arrived.

_“No, wait! Take me too,”_ Ollie was insisting to someone, probably Clark. _“I…I need to see him. Roy? Roy! Say something bud. Please keep talking!”_

“I’m here, Ollie. I’m-I’m here.”

_“I know. I know you are. I’m coming.”_

“I missed you.”

**_SWOOSH!_**

“I missed you too, kid.”

Roy lifted his gaze, peeking out from under his hat, to see Oliver with a rumpled t-shirt on and a dazed look on his face as Superman hovered behind them. It felt like years as Oliver looked him over, studied him like a target he needed to subdue. But then Oliver’s face broke and he lunged forward, pulling Roy to his chest.

“Roy,” Oliver breathed. “Roy. Roy. You’re home. You’re here.”

Roy wanted to joke that this wasn’t home. They were in the middle of the desert. This wasn’t home. But the moment he sank into Oliver’s arms, he knew that wasn’t true. He was more at home in that moment than he had been in years.

If Oliver noticed his shirt got a little damp, he didn’t mention it.

“Take us home, Clark,” Oliver directed to their friend in blue.

A swoosh later, and Clark dropped them off in Queen Manor, where Dinah was waiting, tears gathered in her eyes. Taking a step a few steps forward, Roy found himself sandwiched between his dad and mother-figure, cradled like he was the most precious thing in the world.

“Ollie?” came the voice of Emiko Queen. “I heard something outside, what’s going-ROY!”

The shriek was followed by a flying tackle hug as Roy found his arms full of his…aunt…sister…cousin? What the heck was he supposed to call Emiko? No, that didn’t matter. His arms were full of his Emiko, and that was enough. Of course, the shriek woke many of the other residents of the house, and it was long before Roy’s other brother’s and sister’s raced into the room with looks of glee and pearls of laughter.

It was perfect.

Well. Almost perfect.

\-----------------------

Roy stood at Oliver’s side as the man knocked on the door of the apartment. Lyta Trevor, Jason’s neighbor, gave them a warm smile, and Roy was kind of stuck on the odd familiarity of her face, but kind of brushed it off. They had also been stopped momentarily on the stairs by a bright bubbly girl named Rose Walker who had a lot of good things to say.

“She’s fine,” Ollie said. “I saw her the day before you came back. She’s a tough, bright little cookie monster.”

Roy did not stop fidgeting. It had been three years since he last saw his daughter. He was dead. Gone. And for whatever reason, Jade had chosen Jason as the person to raise their daughter. Not that Roy didn’t trust Jason. That wasn’t the case at all. No, the real problem was that Roy was worried about what this had done to Jason.

Jason needed to move. To feel like he was doing something good. But from what Roy understood, Jason hadn’t left this apartment or town since he got Lian other than to visit Gotham or Star City.

He hoped Jason wouldn’t hate him, though he was already resigned to it. Just as he was for whatever anger Lian might have towards him.

“Ollie, hey,” Jason’s voice greeted as he opened the door. “Did you have a playdate scheduled with Lian that I forgot abo-?”

Jason’s voice cut off as he opened the door the rest of the way to see the second person standing beside Oliver. Jason’s green-teal eyes widened as his entire body went rigid, tense. Roy let himself look over Jason. His hair had grown out, once more giving way to that white strip of bangs courtesy of the Lazarus Pit and his time with the All Caste. It was curling slightly too. He was still toned and muscular, but rather than his typical Red Hood get-up, fancy suits, or his alley kid look, Jason was wearing a t-shirt and sweats.

“Roy,” Jason breathed. “You’re-”

“He’s real, kid,” Oliver assured. “Your dad helped check and everything.”

Roy knew things between Bruce and Jason were better, but Roy couldn’t help the wince he made as Oliver called Bruce Jason’s dad.

Then Jason lunged.

The two of them toppled to the floor as Oliver let out a bark of laughter. The hug was just as fierce and familiar as the first time he reunited with Oliver, and Roy curled into it, chocking down sobs through hitched breaths.

“You idiot,” Jason hissed fondly. “I hate you so much right now.”

Roy huffed. “Love you too, Jaybird.”

“Daddy?”

Roy lifted his head from Jason’s shoulder to see his daughter standing in the doorway.

“Hey, pumpkin,” he greeted with a watery smile and cracked words.

Lian, however, made a face. “I hate it when you call me pumpkin.”

And as his daughter launched into his arms, Roy laughed, bright and free.

He was home.


End file.
